Friedrich I. (Württemberg)

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Friedrich I of Württemberg

Friedrich I (born August 19, 1557 in Mömpelgard ; † January 29, 1608 in Stuttgart ) was Count of Mömpelgard (1558-1608) and the sixth reigning Duke of Württemberg (1593-1608).

Life

Friedrich was the son of Count Georg I von Württemberg-Mömpelgard (1498–1558) and Barbara von Hessen (1536–1597). In his youth he stayed at the Württemberg court in Stuttgart, where Duke Christoph took care of his own upbringing. 1571–1574 he was trained in what would later become the Collegium Illustre in Tübingen and visited various German courts in Denmark , Hungary , Austria , France , Italy and England . Friedrich signed the formula of concord from 1577 and the book of concord from 1580.

In 1581 he married Sibylla , the daughter of Prince Joachim Ernst von Anhalt . At this time he also received the government of his lords on the left bank of the Rhine from Württemberg-Mömpelgard.

When his second cousin, Duke Ludwig von Württemberg , died in 1593 without heirs, Friedrich inherited the ducal dignity and power over the entire Duchy of Württemberg . With this, Württemberg-Mömpelgard was integrated into the Duchy of Württemberg.

In 1599 Friedrich I bought the conversion back of Württemberg, which had been an Austrian fief since 1534, into an imperial fief. The Habsburgs were granted a right to land in the event that the House of Württemberg should die out in the male line, which, however, never came about.

In 1603 he was made a Knight of the Order of the Garter . A delegation from Great Britain awarded him this honor on behalf of King James I. The decision itself was still under the rule of Queen I. Elisabeth met. The solemn investiture took place in Stuttgart between October 2nd and 14th.

Promotion of the arts and sciences

Even in his time as Count von Mömpelgard, Friedrich supported not only companies in the field of infrastructure and economy such as bridges, mines and ironworks, but also projects to improve the intellectual life and the fine arts. Again and again he borrowed the architects and engineers Georg Beer and Heinrich Schickhardt from Stuttgart .

From the beginning, connections to the French-speaking area also played a major role in Friedrich's cultural ventures. From 1571 the natural scientist Jean Bauhin worked in Mömpelgard and from 1586 the printer Jacques Foillet from Lyon . The first set up a botanical garden, one of the first north of the Alps. The latter printed around 150 works in Mömpelgard, about a third each of which represented the German, French and Latin languages. A large humanistic library was also built in Mömpelgard.

When Friedrich took office as Duke in Stuttgart in 1593, he also modernized the court culture there and gave it a decidedly more cosmopolitan character than before under Duke Ludwig. Court artists from France, England (such as the chamber musicians John Price, John and David Morell) and Italy were soon hired. Court fashion opened up to French innovations.

Friedrich collected rare objects and rarities and founded the Chamber of Art and Curiosities of the Württemberg dukes around 1596 , after the harness chamber had already combined special showpieces in a pleasure house. With all these changes, Friedrich clearly set himself apart from the attitude of his cousin and predecessor Duke Ludwig, who preferred traditional local customs and also court servants from his own country.

In 1599 Friedrich gave the order to build a new town on the eastern edge of the northern Black Forest , which was named Freudenstadt .

Friedrich was a fan of alchemy and had his court alchemist Mühlenfels executed as part of an affair surrounding the arrest of the Polish alchemist Sendivogius (1605) . He also had the alchemist Alexander Seton persecuted after he had been tricked by him into the alleged gold-making (Seton was probably already dead by then). As early as 1598 he recruited the alchemist Hans Heinrich Nüscheler from Zurich to make gold, and in 1601 he was imprisoned and executed for his unsuccessfulness. He employed a total of 10 court alchemists, of whom he had five executed. His well-equipped laboratory was located in the old pleasure house in the zoo and pleasure garden, and there were other laboratories in the New Spital in Stuttgart and in the Freihof in Kirchheim / Teck. However, he used them not only for alchemy, but also, for example, to analyze ores and metallurgy as part of his search for mineral resources in his duchy. It was also discovered that the mineral fountains in Bad Boll are suitable for medicinal purposes. He spent thousands of guilders on his alchemical passion, which the Landtag accused him of in 1599.

progeny

Duke Friedrich I of Württemberg and Sibylla von Anhalt (in the center) , the five sons: Johann Friedrich, Ludwig Friedrich, Julius Friedrich, Friedrich Achilles and Magnus (from top left to bottom) , the five daughters: Sibylla Elisabeth, Eva Christina, Agnes, Barbara and Anna (from top right to bottom)

Friedrich's children from his marriage to Sibylla von Anhalt , daughter of Prince Joachim Ernst von Anhalt , were:

literature

Web links

Commons : Friedrich I. (Württemberg, Herzog)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ See BSLK , p. 16 and p. 764.
  2. ↑ John Nichols: The Progresses, Processions, and Magnificient Festivities of King James the First . tape 1 . printed by and for JB Nichols, London 1828, p. 282 .
  3. ^ Georg Schwedt : Chemical experiments in castles, monasteries and museums. From witch's kitchen and magic laboratory. 2nd, completely revised edition. Wiley-VCH, Weinheim 2009, ISBN 978-3-527-32718-8 .
  4. ↑ Jost Weyer: Alchemy at a princely court of the Renaissance. Count Wolfgang II of Hohenlohe (1546–1610) and Weikersheim Castle. In: Chemistry in Our Time. Volume 26, 1992, p. 248.
predecessor Office successor
Ludwig Duke of Württemberg
1593–1608 		Johann Friedrich
Christoph Count of Mömpelgard
1558–1608 		Johann Friedrich
personal data
SURNAME Friedrich I.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Duke Friedrich of Württemberg
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Count of Mömpelgard and sixth Duke of Württemberg
DATE OF BIRTH August 19, 1557
PLACE OF BIRTH Mömpelgard , County of Württemberg-Mömpelgard , Holy Roman Empire
DATE OF DEATH January 29, 1608
Place of death Stuttgart , Duchy of Württemberg , Holy Roman Empire